Unions back bill to curb 'double-dipping'

Thursday

Mar 16, 2017 at 8:20 PMMar 16, 2017 at 8:20 PM

Elizabeth Dinan edinan@seacoastonline.com @DinanElizabeth

CONCORD — Left-leaning state employees' unions are supporting a Republican-led bill that seeks to penalize municipalities that hire so-called double-dippers and fine the post-retirement workers who exceed allowable time worked.

Double-dippers are public employees, typically the highest paid police and fire officials, who retire from the New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS), then are hired by public employers for part-time work. By collecting their pensions, they no longer contribute to the NHRS.

The NHRS is funded by contributions from employees, the employer cities and towns and returns on investments. Its current unfunded liability – the difference between the amount needed to pay promised pensions and the amount of available money – is $5 billion, up from $4.2 billion last year. The state stopped contributing to the NHRS and the full costs are now borne by the hiring cities and towns.

To help close the gap, the New Hampshire Retirement Security Coalition – comprised of police, fire, teachers and other public employees unions – is advocating for passage of House Bill-561, which was passed by the House of Representatives last Wednesday. The coalition of unions claims in a press statement that cities and towns that hire double-dipping pensioners are "gaming" the NHRS.

"It's fiscally responsible for both the system and employers," said Portsmouth Fire Lt. Bill McQuillen, president of the NHRSC and the statewide firefighters' union, about the proposed pension reform.

He said firefighters hear time and again at bargaining tables that the costs to employ firefighters gets more costly due to pension costs.

"This is an opportunity to address that," he said.

The bill, which now needs approval from the Administrative Committee and Senate, would impose penalties on public employers (cities and towns) that employ pensioners who work more than the allowed 32 hours a week at their post-retirement public jobs.

The bill would also authorize the executive director of the NHRS to suspend a public retiree's pension for a month if he or she exceeds the allowable post-retirement work hours. Volunteer time would be included in the calculation and if the time was found to be inaccurately reported, the employer city or town could be fined an amount equal to three times the employee's suspended portion.

The bill lastly seeks to require municipal employers to make pension payments and fund medical benefits for their double-dipping public employees.

"Part of the rub is that these are higher-paying jobs, at the top of the salary scale, that are taken out of the system," McQuillen said.

The unions' president said municipal employers that hire pensioners are also denying promotional opportunities to employees still working.

"This is a problem that the employers have created through hiring practices," McQuillen said. "This legislation helps keep us from kicking the can down the road."

Retired Dover Police Chief William Fenniman was the second highest paid pensioner last year with a $135,915 pension. When he retired in 2007, his $135,915 annual pension, which included calculations from so-called spiking at the end of his career, was controversial because it was higher than his police chief pay.

New Hampshire's fifth top-earning pensioner last year was Portsmouth Police Chief David Mara whose pension as a retired Manchester police chief was $135,114 in 2016. Mara retired from the Manchester Police Department on July 1, 2015, according to the NHRS. His contract with Portsmouth expires July 12 and the Portsmouth chief job pays him $120,000 a year. Because Mara is drawing his pension, he's restricted to working 32 hours a week.

Retired as Portsmouth's police chief in 2009, Michael Magnant was the 23rd top pensioner in the state last year with a $116,705 pension. He's currently working as a 32-hour town administrator in Rye for about $70,000 a year.

For a complete list of New Hampshire's 2016 public pensioners, visit seacoastonline.com/news/20170219/seacoast-retirees-among-states-top-pensioners.

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